10/25/18: absentee voting on the rise

If you’ve watched television, listened to the radio or used social media lately, the amount of political ads makes one thing obvious. It’s election season.

There are many signs that emotions are at their peak ahead of the mid-term election November 6.

Recently, Heartland News has done a number of stories on the increase in absentee voting. Absentee voting is up in five counties in southeast Missouri. Scott County leads the way with an increase of nearly 37% in absentee votes. In Illinois, Jackson County is seeing a spike in early voting compared to past elections. Jackson County Clerk Larry Rinehart told Heartland News that he is processing one to two hundred a day and expects an even bigger increase as we get closer to the election.

So what is this increase in absentee voting telling us?

That the rhetoric, threats of violence, the divisiveness and the vitriol that plagues American politics has taken a toll on the American people.

The result is Americans waking up and becoming more interested in exercising their right to vote.

As a proud American it is my hope that voter interest and turn out is high because people love our country. But I think all of us can agree that many people are more interested in voting because they're fed up and want to make a change, or they are happy to keep the things they see working.

And that's how our founding fathers designed it.

Realizing that our vote is our voice, and that we need to use it no matter which side of the aisle we’re on makes for a better America and a better Heartland.

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